The entire NFL is abuzz regarding a new report from Page Six of the New York Post regarding Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini, who covers the NFL for The Athletic.
Before going any farther, I’ll say this: Coaches and reporters are entitled to lead their own private lives. Personal business is only the business of the persons involved.
However, both Vrabel and Russini have given comments to the Post. Once that happens, a private matter becomes inherently public.
The Post has published photos of Vrabel and Russini, as explained in the article, “holding hands and hugging” at a resort in Arizona other than the resort where last week’s NFL annual meeting occurred. The photos speak for themselves. And the relevant parties have said their piece about the images.
“These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable,” Vrabel told the Post. “This doesn’t deserve any further response.”
Russini gave the Post a statement, too: “The photos don’t represent the group of six people who were hanging out during the day. Like most journalists in the NFL, reporters interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues.”
She’s right about interactions away from stadiums and other venues, but there’s arguably a difference between the interactions depicted in the photos and the usual interactions between reporters and sources.
The Athletic, for its part, doesn’t seem to be troubled by the development.
“These photos are misleading and lack essential context,” Steven Ginsberg, executive editor of The Athletic, told the Post. “These were public interactions in front of many people. Dianna is a premier journalist covering the NFL and we’re proud to have her at The Athletic.”
The Patriots had no comment on the situation, in response to an inquiry from PFT.
Again, it’s an inherently private issue. But both have become public figures. And both have provided comments on the situation.
The photos ultimately are what they are. Whether they are innocent or not (or whether “many people” were present) will be in the eye of the beholder, and reasonable minds may differ on what the images depict. Whether anything comes from it remains to be seen.
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